On politics in the Golden State

Jerry Brown defends former parks chief as 'good soldier'

September 24, 2012 | 1:49
pm

Gov. Jerry Brown defended his former parks director, Ruth Coleman, saying
much of the criticism she took was for implementing unpopular budget cuts he
demanded. The governor's comments came as part of an interview with The Times in his Capitol office earlier this month.

Brown said he heard widespread criticism of Coleman’s leadership months before Coleman's resignation this summer, but felt that
it stemmed from the embattled parks chief doing her job.

“She was a good soldier and she was taking the heat
for what I was doing,” he said. “So I couldn’t tell whether she was getting
criticism because she was making the tough cuts or for other reasons."

Brown said Coleman, first
appointed to the job by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, was in an untenable position,
devising a wildly unpopular plan to close up to 70 parks.

“We were cutting the parks and
they said she was carrying out what we wanted her to do and they didn’t like
her,” he said. “But I said, well they
probably don’t like her because she’s carrying out the cuts. That’s the way I
interpreted that.”

But when
it was revealed that parks officials had squirreled away millions in unspent
funds without informing Brown’s top accountants, the governor felt something
had to be done.

“It just
turned out that it was time for a change,” he said. “I’m interviewing people right
now.”

Photo: Ruth Coleman resigned as director of the California parks system after learning that millions in surplus funds had not been reported by her department even while the state was closing parks. Credit: Rich Pedroncelli Associated Press